White Dragon Mountain Resort Hotel.
It's about an hour by high-speed rail from Minghai City. On the train, Joy Zheng and Lucy Lu sat together, Lynn Chen and Yolanda Fang shared a seat, and Evan Lin was seated behind them.
Before leaving, Evan Lin had already found time to call Summer Mu. When Summer Mu heard Evan was heading to White Dragon Mountain, he originally planned to come in person. But lately, the Summer Group has been in the middle of a major merger, and after the huge gamble at the Jared Qian Auction where Sawyer Summer bet against River City's former tycoon Aiden Li—and Evan ended it by killing Aiden—nearly all the Li family's assets fell into the Summers' hands. Sawyer Summer has been personally dragging Summer Mu through every aspect of the business consolidation, leaving him no time to come out.
After hanging up with Evan, Summer Mu immediately called Henry Zhang, the lobby manager at White Dragon Mountain Resort Hotel.
Last time, on Liam Li's instigation, Henry Zhang had put on an arrogant show in front of Evan Lin. If he hadn't sobered up and drunkenly collapsed on the spot, he probably wouldn't have been able to keep his legs that day.
As for Liam Li, Henry Zhang basically wanted to beat him to death at this point.
"Mm, okay, then just wait for us at the station exit."
On the high-speed train, Lucy Lu hung up the phone, glanced at Joy Zheng—who had changed into new clothes and, thanks to the Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill, looked fresh and radiant—and smiled: "They've already arrived, so I told them to wait for us at the station entrance."
"We'll take a taxi together to White Dragon Mountain Resort Hotel later. I heard the hot springs there are pretty good, so tonight we can go soak together." Lucy Lu threw her arm around Joy Zheng's shoulders—the two of them looked much younger now.
When Lucy Lu drove the car back home in Minghai, she happened to run into Chen Qiangshan. For a moment, Chen Qiangshan almost didn't recognize her—if Lucy hadn't cursed him out, he probably would have stayed stunned for half the day.
"Ah, last time we came here, I didn't even get to enjoy the hot springs properly! This time, I'm definitely soaking!" Yolanda Fang raised her hand.
"Me too!" Lynn Chen chimed in, just as eager when it came to hot springs.
Then Yolanda Fang twisted around to look at Evan Lin in the back row, her eyes sparkling mischievously. She grinned, "Evan, wanna soak with us?"
"No thanks. You girls go ahead." Evan Lin shook his head.
"Oh, acting shy now?" Yolanda Fang waggled her eyebrows, dragging Lynn Chen into the teasing with a playful punch.
Evan Lin had planned to close his eyes and rest, but right then his phone started buzzing.
Yolanda Fang and Lynn Chen, who'd been messing around in the front row, immediately perked up like two curious cats, craning their necks to stare at Evan Lin's phone.
"What are you two doing?" Evan Lin held his phone, looking helplessly at Yolanda Fang and Lynn Chen in front of him.
"It's fine, just answer your call. I'm just watching, not saying anything," Yolanda said bluntly.
Lynn Chen put on a nonchalant face: "I'm not looking at you, don't flatter yourself."
Even though she said that, her perked-up ears made it pretty clear she wasn't telling the whole truth.
Evan Lin glanced at his phone, a little surprised.
The caller ID showed Rachel Liu. Ever since Evan left River City, he hadn't had any contact with her.
Besides, what could she be calling about?
Evan answered the call, his tone calm: "Hello."
"Mm, long time no see. How have you been lately?"
On the other end, Rachel Liu seemed to be choosing her words carefully. Though she sounded deliberately casual, if students from Minghai No. 1 and No. 2 High found out about this call, it would probably set off a storm in every boy's heart.
"I'm okay. Is there something you wanted?" Evan replied blandly.
"Nothing, really. Senior year is starting soon—just do your best and work hard."
"Thanks."
After a few brief pleasantries, Evan hung up the phone.
Yolanda Fang eyed Evan Lin suspiciously. "Who was that? Sounded like a girl's voice."
"Rachel Liu."
As soon as Evan answered, Yolanda rolled her eyes. Lynn Chen, who'd been listening intently, immediately flattened her ears and turned away with a bored look.
"Yeah right, Rachel Liu called you? Who do you think you are, Daniel Wu?" Yolanda made a face. "Shameless."
With a huff, Yolanda turned away too.
The train sped along, the scenery outside racing past like a tide.
In the high-speed rail station hall at White Dragon Mountain, a group of more than ten people were waiting at the entrance.
"Xiao Yun, long time no see! You look even prettier now," a middle-aged woman with a handbag smiled at another woman.
"Oh, stop it, Cui Xue. You're the one who keeps getting more beautiful," Xiao Yun laughed, giving Cui Xue's wrist a friendly slap, but she couldn't hide a touch of pride.
"Is that an LV bag, Xiao Yun? Must've cost tens of thousands, right?" Cui Xue glanced enviously at Xiao Yun's purse.
"It's not that expensive, just twenty thousand or so. Old Zhang got a bonus recently and bought it for me. Really, it's not that much," Xiao Yun said, covering her mouth as she laughed.
She glanced at the middle-aged man beside her in a suit, smiling.
"Your Old Zhang is really something—he's deputy director of operations at Summer Group in River City, right?" Cui Xue praised Zhang Dewang.
Hearing the praise, Xiao Yun quickly replied, "Oh, you can't say that. Your Wang Liangcai is a math professor at River City University now, isn't he? That's way better than my Old Zhang. He just works all the time and barely has any time for me. Even this trip, he had to squeeze it in."
The stern-looking man in a traditional Chinese suit was Wang Liangcai. When he heard Xiao Yun's words, even his serious face relaxed into a rare smile.
"That's right, I'm just a businessman, can't compare to Professor Wang. Plus, my company's been busy taking over some of the Li family's businesses lately, so I haven't had much time for Xiao Yun either." Zhang Dewang smiled, then asked, "By the way, when is your class monitor arriving?"